Sunday, February 26, 2012

Planning for the riding/racing season.

The MRA schedule has been posted, and the series has added a round, as well, the April "mancation" to Mid America looks to be a go. Finally, some organizers with the club have arranged for Canadian pro racer Chris Peris to run a school at Gimli -- an offer too good to pass up. My racing season looks like this:

April 14&15 Mid America Trackaddix Mancation

May 12&13 Round 1

June 2&3 Round 2

July 5&6 Chris Peris Riding School

July 7&8 Round 3

July 28&29 Round 4

Aug 18&19 Round 5

Sept 8&9 Round 6

Sep 29/30 - MPH Weekend (option)

So a very busy season this year. The costs will certainly add up. In addition, I've got the 636 to ride/commute on the street -- hopefully the increased seat time will further help my riding. In addition, I also agreed to do some track day instructing at Gimli. Again I felt somewhat obligated to help support the club -- considering the 2 years of refereeing while I re-evaluated my desire to race was a big enough sacrifice. Knowing my cautious approach to my racing, the instructing on Saturday will likely impact my performance. Yes, I will still be getting track time, but not "at speed"; my expectation is that some track credit will be offered in lieu, at least for Saturday. Running two bike will keep me hopping as well, but I think I am sorted for tires, and short of an expensive crash, my running costs are unlikely to change over the year.
For the long-term, I would still love to see if I can get back to a single bike. I enjoy the 650, but the "neat" factor of monos really stirs up the blood in me. At the end, the DRZ400 supermono had me lap in the 109s -- no where near competitive for Thunder, but I would be racing the experts mid to back field... could I develop the husqvarna into a more competitive bike? Surely the mito chassis and better suspension will help, but the engine is a question mark. By all logic I've likely eliminated the backfire condition I saw when I ran it last fall. The vibration is a reality, but I have some ideas as to how to minimize that -- everything from seat foam to engine mount bolts to a crank balancer nut (which was a bit loose) to a balanced crank are all possibilities to explore. Ideally I'd love to get the suspension sorted (remember I've adapted gixxer forks and a zx6r shock to the cagiva frame), build a bulletproof, balanced and blueprinted engine, and run in the 107s... in both ultralightweight and thunder. Then I'd put the 650 back on the street in the guise of a cafe racer, and sell the 636.... Oops, that's assuming I can race and develop the mitovarna at the same time. An interesting feat. Best make sure I safety-wire everything, cross my fingers, and hope for the best!